How to prepare for an interview

Not every programme interviews, and the ones that do are usually deciding between people who are all eligible. They are trying to find out whether you will finish.

Expect three kinds of question. Something about you and why you applied. Something practical about your circumstances — can you attend, can you get there, what else are you doing. And often something open, like a problem to think through out loud. They are not testing whether you already know the material. If you already knew it you would not need the programme.

Prepare by re-reading your own application. Interviewers ask about what you wrote, and being unable to expand on your own answer is the fastest way to lose a place. Have one story ready about something you finished, however small, and one about something that went wrong and what you did next. The second matters more than people expect.

Ask questions of your own. What does a normal week look like? What happens if I miss a session? What do people do after this? An interviewer notices when someone is trying to work out whether the programme is right for them, because that is the person who does not drop out in week three.

If the interview is online, the practical things matter as much as the answers. Find somewhere quiet, tell whoever you share the phone with, and join a few minutes early. If your connection is poor, say so at the start rather than letting it be mistaken for hesitation. Ask whether you can join by voice only — most organisers will say yes.

Being nervous is not a problem. Being unprepared for questions about your own application is.